Episode · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2026-06-16
Books mentioned on #870: Sebastian Mallaby, Biographer of Demis Hassabis — Lessons from 100+ AI Insiders on The Race to Superintelligence, The Religion of AI, and Spotting Breakthroughs Early
Sebastian Mallaby (@scmallaby) is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the author of six books, including More Money Than God, The Power Law, The Man Who Knew, and The World's Banker.
Tim Ferriss discussed More money than God by Sebastian Mallaby, The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby, The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby, and Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter. Sebastian Mallaby discussed Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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More money than God
More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby is an expansive and entertaining history of the hedge fund industry and the influential investors who shaped modern global finance.
Discussed“And I can't recall who first recommended it. Frankly, I believe it was a hedge fund manager in New York City, but more money than God, hedge funds in the making of a new elite.”
Where to get it
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The Power Law
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby is a comprehensive non-fiction exploration of the venture capital industry and its profound influence on the modern technological landscape.
Discussed“And then certainly that was in my particular case followed by reading the power law of venture capital in the making of the new future, which I didn't expect to learn as much from because I've spent 20 years surrounded by venture capitalists”
Where to get it
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The Infinity Machine
The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby is a comprehensive history of the artificial intelligence industry, focusing specifically on Demis Hassabis and the founding of DeepMind in the quest for artificial general intelligence.
Discussed“And that made me very excited to read The Infinity Machine, which this is the new book. And I realized also I've been pronouncing Demis' name incorrectly for a very long time despite having met him at one point. So Deis Hassabis, Deep Mind and the Quest for Super Intelligence.”
Where to get it
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Ender's Game
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is a classic science fiction novel about a gifted young boy recruited into an elite military academy to prepare for an impending alien invasion through intense tactical simulations.
Discussed“So right at the beginning of my interviewing of Demis we were having the second meeting which was a dinner and he told me to read a couple of books before we had the dinner and one of them was Enders Game.”
Where to get it
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The Fabric of Reality
The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch is a seminal work of popular science and philosophy that explores four foundational strands of thought: quantum physics, epistemology, computation, and evolution.
Discussed“It was a book by David Deutsch called The Fabric of Reality.”
Where to get it
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Gödel, Escher, Bach
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R.
Discussed“Did he ask you to read Good Echerbach an eternal golden braid?”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I wanted to just give you applause for writing some of my favorite books of the last many years.”
“I wanted to just give you applause for writing some of my favorite books of the last many years.”
“Well, the power law, the book about venture capital, had come out in February of 2022.”